Page 3492 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 23 November 2021
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MR BARR: Yes. Clearly, there has been a massive shift in terms of education and training outcomes and skill needs across the economy. It was the case that 30 years ago only around 12 per cent of women held a tertiary qualification. It is now 50 per cent. That is a change delivered by federal Labor government policy, starting with the Whitlam government and accelerated by the Hawke government, which has seen a massive shift in who undertakes and who benefits from public education and secondary and vocational—
Mrs Jones: A point of order, Madam Speaker.
MADAM SPEAKER: Resume your seat, Mr Barr.
Mrs Jones: The question was whether we were putting a gendered lens on things, not if former Labor governments have in the federal parliament.
MADAM SPEAKER: The Chief Minister is responding in an appropriate manner. There is no point of order.
MR BARR: We have already seen a massive structural shift in the Australian economy, in terms of where new jobs are being created, the types of skills that are necessary and access to education and training, particularly for those who were not the beneficiaries of that over the last 50 or 60 years. That has changed dramatically.
Locally, the ACT has a higher proportion of its population with post-secondary education qualifications and a higher level of skills attainment by women than anywhere else in Australia—50 to 100 per cent more. There is a massive amount of investment occurring across our education and training system to ensure better outcomes for groups who have not always had access to education and training.
The challenge over the next few decades is not so much around female participation; it is disadvantaged groups, and particularly Indigenous men. (Time expired.)
Roads—speed limits
MR MILLIGAN: My question is to the Minister for Transport and City Services. Minister, during estimates we asked about the number of accidents that occurred in the new 40-kilometre zone in Civic in the 12 months preceding and the months following the implementation of the reduced speed limits. Given the heavy focus on the safety of pedestrians in the government’s spin on this issue, we were surprised to learn that, in the 12 months before the speed cameras were turned into cash cows for the ACT Treasury coffers, there was only one injury to a pedestrian, just one. What is your actual justification for the reduced speed zones, given that pedestrian safety does not appear to be one of them?
MR STEEL: I reject the premise of the question. One person injured or one person dying on our roads is one too many, especially with a population of our size. We know that nationally and in the ACT we have not seen the pedestrian road toll come down. It has been relatively static over a period of time; whereas we have seen the
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